Get the Lead Out: Testing for and Removing Lead in School Water Systems JULY 17, 2017
Presenters Dr. Lauren Gambill, Pediatrician, UC Davis John Rumpler, Clean Water Program Director, Environment America Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent, Seattle Public Schools
Health Risks of Lead to Children Lauren Gambill, MD Pediatrician, University of California Davis State Government Affairs Representative, American Academy of Pediatrics
“Kids are not little adults” Absorption: higher, as much as 90% • Distribution: 40-50% in soft tissues • Reservoirs: incomplete blood-brain • barrier; less in bone Target organs: brain, blood, bone, • kidneys
There is NO safe level of lead
There is NO safe level of lead Lead is 1 of the major risk factors for: • Antisocial behaviors (Needleman et.al) • Conduct disorder (Marcus et. al.) • Delinquency (Needleman et. al.) • Criminal behaviors (Reyes et.al) • Aggression (Needleman et. al) • Arrests/convictions (Reyes et. al.) • Severe violent behaviors (Reyes et. al)
Get the Lead Out: Ensuring Safe Drinking Water for Our Children Work to protect clean water and air Supported by citizen members State affiliates in 29 states John Rumpler www.environmentamerica.org Clean Water Program Director ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Overview Lead in Schools’ Drinking Water: understanding the problem Get the Lead Out: solutions to ensure safe water for our children Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Review: Lead is a Potent Neurotoxin • Serious damage to how kids develop, grow, and behave. • Lead flows from the blood to the brain, kidneys, and bones. • Children are more vulnerable. • There is no safe level of lead. ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Lead in Our Drinking Water Beyond Flint: “ Excessive” lead levels found in almost 2,000 water systems across all 50 states Alison Young & Mark Nichols, USA Today (2016) Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Even in Our Schools Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
New Data Since Our Report in February: more lead found in schools’ water Massachusetts: Of 60,000 taps tested at schools, 49.7 percent detected lead in the water. http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/water/drinking/lead-and-copper- in-school-drinking-water-sampling-results.html New Jersey: school districts across the state were required to submit test results by last Thursday, July 13 th . We examined available data from Bergen County. ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
How Does Lead Get into Drinking Water at School? Image: Lead Service Line. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/styles/medium/publi c/2015-10/lead-service-line-id-2.jpg Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Lead in Schools’ Drinking Water • Pathways of exposure: all the outlets where water is used for drinking or cooking – including the school nurse’s office. • Lead corrosion is highly variable, so tests will sometimes fail to detect it. • Wherever there is lead, there is a risk of contamination. Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Lead corrosion is highly variable Some testing methods – including flushing – reduce the likelihood/levels of lead detection. Understanding 15 parts per billion: an “action level” Test Results and designed for water utility management, not a measure of what is safe for children Limitations to drink. ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
New York City: a cautionary testing tale In 2016, New York City schools flushed their water systems for 2 hours before conducting lead tests. After Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech declared the results should be “thrown in the garbage,” the city retested without flushing. The new results found nine times as many outlets with lead above 15 ppb. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/nyregio n/new-york-dept-education-lead- water.html?_r=0 ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Action to Ensure Safe Water for Children at School Immediate prevention: Install certified filters at all outlets used for cooking or drinking, as soon as possible. Get the Lead Out: Replace lead-bearing faucets, fixtures, plumbing, and pipes. Solution: Ace the Test: test all outlets used for drinking or cooking, and Time to Get the avoid testing methods that reduce levels of lead detected. Lead Out Doctors’ Orders: Adopt a 1 part per billion standard to protect children’s health, as per recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Communicate: provide easy public access to all test results detecting any level of lead in the water, remediation plans, and progress. Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Medical researchers estimate that more than 24 million children Of costs and benefits in America will lose IQ points due to low levels of lead. A 2010 World Health Organization report found that childhood lead poisoning was costing the United States $43 Billion per year. The report’s cost benefit analysis also found that for every $1 spent to reduce lead hazards, there was a benefit of $17-220 saved. ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Communities and schools taking action to “Get the Lead Out” Seattle, WA (Dr. Nyland) Madison, WI and Lansing, MI replaced lead service lines, community-wide Fort Worth, TX: removed lead-lined water fountains. Washington, DC schools installing filters and adopting a 5 ppb standard Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Resources Contact: John Rumpler, Clean Water Program Director Environment America jrumpler@environmentamerica.org (617) 747-4306 www.environmentamerica.org Environment America 294 Washington Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 www.environmentamerica.org ENVIRONMENT AMERICA 294 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 500 BOSTON, MA 02108 WWW.ENVIRONMENTAMERICA.ORG
Photos by Susie Fitzhugh Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. History of Drinking Water Quality Program at Seattle Public Schools July 17, 2017 Larry Nyland, Superintendent
Seattle Presenters Larry Nyland, Superintendent ◦ 40 year AASA member, ◦ Fourth year as Seattle Superintendent. Flip Herndon, Associate Superintendent ◦ Heads up facilities, operations, construction ◦ Opening five schools per year to address growth Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 28
Objectives The problem The solutions Costs: Initial and Ongoing How the Process Works Now Progress to Date Lessons Learned Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 29
The Problem One student complained about the odd color in his school’s water fountains The parent contacted the principal who contacted the maintenance department The maintenance department said there was nothing they could do to fix the problem Parents began bringing bottles of brown water to the school board meetings Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 30
The Solution Testing Triage: Bottled Water Policy: Set testing levels and 3 year cycle Consultant Easy fixes: Fixtures and Filters Voter approved tax Replaced water lines for half of our schools
Initial Cost Bottled water: $750K Outside consultants: $250K Immediate fixture and pipe replacement $7M Long term increased capital cost: $5M Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 32
What it Costs Now Ongoing monitoring costs are approximately $100,000 per year: Lab Work = $60K Staff Monitor = $40K Additional remediation costs vary depending on the year and number of sources identified to be fixed or replaced. Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. 33
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